Larry D. Lauer

We are entering an unprecedented stage in a bewildering presidential primary campaign. The shouting is degenerating into violence. It’s obvious that the candidates are the shouters. But does the news media have some additional responsibility at this new stage in the campaign?

After all it’s difficult to deny the insatiable appetite of 24/7 cable news for constant new and dramatic statements to report, and the tendency of well-crafted television reporting to turn demonstrations into emotion-filled drama.

It seems to me that there are only two ways to describe the news media’s responsibility when it comes to escalating violent situations: Either they should only describe what is said, show what is happening at demonstrations, and bear no responsibility; or they should assume the additional responsibility to express disapproval of untrue hate statements, and work hard to minimize dramatic camera work and commentary during violent demonstrations.

Freedom of speech might guarantee the right to shout. But it also guarantees the news media the right to challenge lies aggressively and to communicate only what they know to be true. What we have here now is an interesting tension between what has become “the business of the news” and “the public’s interest and need to know.”

After years of study and professional practice it seems to me that the dynamics of aggressive debates evolve this way:

Outrageous remarks shock and get our attention. But when repeated incessantly people quickly get used to hearing them. So then remarks get even more outrageous to keep attention. Now opponents need to match those statements or risk being ignored. In today’s digital technology world dramatic attacks will “trump” thoughtful policy messages every time, especially when it comes to news coverage the next day! Eventually rage mounts and violence results.

So it seems to me that as outrageous shouting escalates the news media must assume an escalating responsibility to report only the facts, refrain from giving overexposure to outrage, and minimize the use of dramatic language and production techniques.

We might feel that whoever started the attacks is the most responsible for the violence. But another reality of today’s digital media world is that people tend to forget what happened yesterday and their anger grows in intensity with each day’s news.